Skoda targets Mazda with upmarket push

Skoda targets Mazda with upmarket push

12 Sep 2016Stephen Ottley

Skoda doesn't want to be different anymore.

The Volkswagen-owned Czech brand launched in Australia in 2007 with quirky models, such as the Roomster and eventually Yeti, with a focus on value - specifically targeting Korean brands Hyundai and Kia.

But with the recent launches of the more conservative styled Fabia, Octavia and Superb and in 2017 the Kodiaq SUV, the brand wants to re-position itself as a rival to the likes of Mazda and Subaru as an aspirational mainstream car maker.

Current Skoda Australia boss Michael Irmer explained the decision to ditch models like the Roomster and push in a new direction, more closely aligned with parent brand Volkswagen.

"I think quirky is probably a little bit too niche… You need to offer something that has consumer demand, in terms of product." Irmer said. "What does this? What do customers want? Customers want good looking vehicles.

"When you have a polarising design a fraction of the customers love it and a fraction of the customers hate it. You start excluding parts of the market already so it's better to have a non-polarising design. Great looks, good package, very practical, very spacious on the inside, lots of those simply clever features that we have in the cars. The latest technology, we are loading up the cars with technology, we have the latest Volkswagen Group technology."

Unlike previous generation models that used older Volkswagen Group platforms, the current Fabia shares its underpinnings with latest Volkswagen Polo while the Octavia, Superb and Kodiaq all use the latest shared MQB architecture.

According to Skoda Australia, local customers tend towards the higher specification models, rather than the cheaper, entry-level offerings. Irmer believes that reflects the European heritage of the brand and allows the more upmarket push.

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"I would say we are a European brand in Australia and a European brand stands for something… I think we are trying to conquer the aspirational buyers from the Japanese brands," he said. "That is our first aim, our first target. This is not the Korean space, the Korean space is probably the true mainstream."